


Splashdown

by SadieYuki



Series: A Heart Before the Arc [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Gwen is Peter's friend, Peter is Tony's kid, Pre-Superfamily, being the son of a billionaire socialite helps your confidence levels, but they're not besties or dating yet or anything, kinda a lot of it, pre-TASM, which basically means pre-spiderbite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 10:10:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3377618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadieYuki/pseuds/SadieYuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the leading science-based high school in the city, the quality of the television at the front of the room was nothing short of awful.  But for the first time, Peter didn’t spare a single thought towards it.  He was far more focused on the live feed being shown on the screen, currently showing the battleground that was Manhattan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Splashdown

For the leading science-based high school in the city, the quality of the television at the front of the room was nothing short of awful. And maybe Peter had been spoiled throughout his life with state-of-the-art, high definition, plasma displays, but he was pretty sure this TV dated back to the 90s, or generously, the early 2000s. Three cheers for public school funding.

But for the first time, Peter didn't spare a single thought towards the age or quality of the TV at the front of Ms. Lafell's classroom. He was far more focused on the live feed being shown on the screen, currently showing the battleground that was Manhattan.

Peter knew that aliens existed. It was a hard-to-ignore fact of life. With the expanse of the Universe, it was naive to assume that Earth was alone in sustaining life. Realistically, there had to be another rock out there with the necessary components to sustain life. It was merely that Earth had yet to make contact with these other lifeforms.

Until today.

And they most certainly did not come in peace.

Manhattan was quite literally a war-zone. With a glowing blue wormhole open above Stark Tower, alien creatures were streaming out into the streets, destroying buildings and killing anyone in their path. The police were in chaos, the Army and National Guard both rolled into the city to help the police with said chaos, and civilians were running around without a clue of where to hide, because there was _no where_ to go.

Peter was vaguely aware of Gwen Stacy sitting in front of him to the right, who he knew must be out of her mind with worry, as her father was the New York City Chief of Police. During a time like this, he was sure to be out there with his subordinates, doing everything he could to protect the civilians in the line of fire. He had an idea of what she was going through.

As the rest of the class watched the attack on the screen in various stages of worry, Peter was torn between wanting to look away and watching the footage like his life depended on it. Ultimately, he kept his gaze glued to the TV, keeping his eyes and ears locked on the red and gold blur that soared in and out of the frame, firing repulsor blasts at unsuspecting aliens.

When the battle hit the news, and a worried Ms. Lafell (having received a text from her sister working in Manhattan) flipped on the television, Peter knew his father would eventually show up on the screen, likely already at the site of the battle. And how could he not be, the epicenter of the attack being his own home.

Not even a minute into the coverage, a familiar suit of red and gold soared through the picture, taking out several aliens on the pass with a few shoulder missiles.

When a large, muscles-bulging green being literally stopped one of the behemoth aliens with a single punch and his father finished it off with a well placed missile, the class let out a cheer, but Peter remained silent, his hands gripping the front of his desk with white knuckles. When any of the super six out there risking their lives did something particularly heroic or impressive, the class would let out a similar cheer, and it made Peter feel sick. It was like they were watching a movie while he was sitting there terrified that he would be receiving a front-row seat to his father’s death.

He didn't recognize anyone out there with his father, except for Natalie (or Natasha, he remembered) and Captain freaking America (because how could he _not_ recognize that suit), but it was easy to see that they worked seamlessly together. The big, raging, green guy (the Hulk, he remembered from prior incidents) seemed to be a bit—a lot—wild, but he was doing his part. A man wielding a hammer would summon bolts of lightning to fry aliens in his path, or would simply use the hammer to attack. The final man was essentially a modern day Robin Hood, as every arrow he let loose hit its target, despite the impossible shooting angles. Natal— _Natasha_ was holding her own with her superior martial arts and weapon skills, and Captain America lived up to his legend, fighting with superhuman strength and utilizing his shield in ways that left Peter in awe.

And then of course, his father, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

His relationship to his father had been carefully kept a secret in order to protect Peter from the public eye. Tony himself had been targeted several times in his youth, and he was in no hurry to put Peter in the same danger. As Tony had told him several years ago, a one-night stand showed up at his doorstep nine months later, handed Peter over, and left before Tony could protest. Tony would later learn that the woman had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor which is why she had handed the nameless baby over in the first place—she passed away a year later. Tony had admitted that he hadn't been very receptive to the idea of raising a baby, especially with his playboy, partying tendencies and his less than stellar experiences with his own father, but Pepper had eventually convinced him that he shouldn't give the kid up for foster care.

As part of the agreement, Tony had been adamant about keeping Peter a secret, and when he shared his reasons with Pepper, she reluctantly agreed it was for the best. Thus, they created the alias of Peter Parker, despite his legal name being Peter Stark. Very few people knew Peter was the son of the billionaire, the short list comprising of Pepper Potts (Aunt Pepper), James Rhodes (Uncle Rhodey), the late Obadiah Stane (previously Uncle Obie, now Bastard), and Harold Hogan (Happy). The list expanded to include Natasha Romanoff (Natalie Rushman) and Phil Coulson during the Hammer incident.

And while the rest of the world continued to see Tony Stark as a certifiable mess of a man, Peter saw him for who he was behind closed doors. He was far from the perfect father, but Tony really and truly tried to do well by Peter. He limited his drinking so he wouldn't come home drunk to his son, substituting champagne for sparkling cider or simply water for vodka to keep up with his public appearance. Of course, Tony had his slip ups, such as the disastrous birthday party resulting in a drunken fight with Rhodey, both in Iron Man suits—Peter had stayed with Happy for the night at Pepper’s insistence. Peter could hardly hold it against him though; he found out later that Tony had been dying from Palladium poisoning at the time, and his priorities were decidedly messed up. And being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company made free time sparse, but Tony always made time for Peter.

Such time hadn't increased after handing the role of CEO over to Pepper, because he was, for all intents and purposes, a superhero. Peter couldn't count the amount of times he had sat in front of a TV watching his father fight whatever threat deemed Iron Man necessary. After every such battle, Tony would return home, sometimes worse for wear, and assure Peter that he would always come back home to him. That didn't make watching any easier.

So despite the overwhelming fear that flooded him as he watched his father battle aliens, Peter kept it to himself as much as he could. Every so often, his father would take a particularly hard hit, and he would wince as if he had been struck himself. In one instance, Iron Man had been thrown hard through a brick wall, and Peter dropped his head to his desk with a moan.

“Peter?”

Peter looked up at the soft calling, seeing Gwen frown at him in concern. A quick glance at the television showed Iron Man landing near Captain America, firing a repulsor blast at his shield that ricocheted and took down several of the alien attackers. He was back up in the air a moment later.

“Peter!” Gwen repeated, keeping her voice low but increasingly insistent. Peter looked back at her, and her gaze softened. He probably looked like a wreck. “Are you okay?”

Peter flicked his gaze at the screen once again, but the focus was no longer on his father. He let out a rough breath. “Yeah, I’m just—just worried. Freaking out a bit. A lot,” he amended.

Gwen’s mouth twisted in concern. “Do you know anyone out there?”

Peter swallowed painfully. “Yeah, my, um—” he winced, watching as Iron Man took another hit. “My father works there,” he said finally.

“Oh Peter, I’m so sorry. Have you been able to contact him?” she asked.

Peter shook his head. “No, my phone’s in my locker.”

“You should go get it,” she suggested softly. “Cell service still works, my dad texted me a few minutes ago.”

“He’s okay?” Peter asked.

“So far,” Gwen grimaced. “But seriously, I don’t think Ms. Lafell would mind, she’s been talking to her sister this whole time.”

Peter’s gaze was to the screen again; Iron Man was once again the focus of the news crew. He understood; out of the group fighting, his father was the only one the public actively recognized, it made sense to focus on him. Peter was both relieved and anxious. While he could keep an eye on how his father was doing, he also saw each and every hit that he took.

“I’d rather not miss anything,” he said finally, keeping his eyes on the screen. Peripherally, he saw Gwen nod slightly before turning back to the TV herself.

Later, he’d reflect on the irony of that statement.

Minutes crawled by, and it was steadily growing clearer that the group of six heroes was losing ground. And how could they not be with a never-ending supply of aliens spewing from the portal every second, and the six of them giving their all without any backup or relief (the police, Army, and National Guard had mostly kept to helping civilians, but while they certainly aimed some shots at the ‘regular’ aliens, they were no match for the behemoths). Captain America took longer to stand after being knocked down, Robin Hood had run out of arrows, Iron Man was surrounded by dozens of the aliens, piled on him so he couldn't fly away (Peter was mildly reassured that they had yet to pierce Tony’s armor), and Peter hadn't seen Natasha on screen in ages.

Peter’s head dropped to his desk again, unable to watch the beating any longer but keeping his ears trained on the broadcast. He gripped his hair with both hands, welcoming the grounding pain of a few roots being yanked out.

“Yo, that’s a _nuke_ on Iron Man’s back!”

Peter’s head shot up.

Sure enough, the camera was trained on Tony, with an obvious nuclear warhead on his back. Peter had an insane thought of the irony that the product of the Manhattan Project, something his own grandfather had a hand in, was now aimed at its namesake, on the back of said scientist’s son. 

“He’s gonna nuke Manhattan!”

Before Peter could accidentally burst and tell off his classmate for even insinuating that his father would blow up an entire city, another voice spoke up.

“It’s not _his_ , look at him, he’s redirecting it!”

Sure enough, as Tony reached Stark Tower, the suit sharply veered skyward, taking the warhead with him. Peter immediately understood; his father was sending the nuke through the wormhole. His throat closed up as a realization came to him. Nuclear missiles had targeting systems. If Tony let go of the warhead, it would miss the wormhole and decimate Manhattan. Someone had to carry it through the wormhole.

“Oh God, no,” he breathed.

He felt tears building at the corner of his eyes as Tony streaked up the side of the tower. He passed the device powering the wormhole, another second passed, and Tony Stark disappeared.

Nothing happened right away, but a few moments later, the screen was showing aliens collapsing all over the city, and the class released a loud cheer. Peter, however, remained frozen, glazed eyes still locked on the TV.

_God, no...Dad, please...c'mon, just fly back through...you've gotta come back...please come back...why haven’t you come back yet...Dad...don’t leave me—!_

The wormhole began to collapse, and with it, Peter’s world. He had lost feeling in his hands, gripping the desk as tightly as he was, and he sat on the literal edge of his seat, rocking back and forth slightly, whispering a mantra of, “C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, _please_ come back, _please come back, please come back..._ ”

Just as Peter’s heart cracked, a speck of red and gold fell through the portal moments before it closed and disappeared from the sky.

Peter inhaled like it was his first breath, and his head fell forward onto his desk again, thanking whatever deity out there that had brought his father back. _Thank you, thank you, thank you, oh thank everything, oh my God, he’s okay, he’s okay, he’s o—_

“Hey, shouldn't Iron Man be flying by now?”

_Nonononono—_

Peter’s head shot up again, and just as his classmate had said, Iron Man was in free-fall, falling uncoordinatedly to the ground without a sign of one of his thrusters sparking to live. The suit disappeared behind a building, and Peter found himself standing abruptly, his chair clattering to the ground loudly.

With the lifeless form of the suit falling, Peter figured it was safe to assume that Tony was unable to move. There were no flailing body parts, so even if it was a thruster malfunction, there would have been some kind of sign of life from the motion of the suit. But there was none. The suit had fallen like an inanimate toy. But even if his father was hurt or unconscious, JARVIS would have taken control of the thrusters and at least slowed the descent. This meant that JARVIS was offline, which on its own was concerning, but that coupled with an unconscious or otherwise helpless Tony in the suit...there was no way he would survive that fall.

Most of the class was still caught up in celebration, so hardly anyone noticed when Peter rushed from the room. He sprinted down the hallway, cursing to himself and vowing to never leave his phone in his locker ever again. He needed to call Pepper, or Rhodey, or _someone, anyone_ who could tell him if his father was—

He skidded to a stop in front of his locker and fumbled with the combination lock, frustrated tears leaking from his eyes as he struggled with it. After the third try, he yanked the locker open and grabbed his phone, but he was distracted from calling anyone by a notification on the home screen.

_Missed Call_  
 _ Dad _  
_4 min ago_

Peter’s breath left him. He clutched the phone in front of him, the words burning themselves into his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in his knees and his forehead met the locker below his. His eyes blurred until he could no longer make out the screen, but he knew it was still there.

He’d tried to call him. Before he went through that portal, his father had tried to call him. And he didn't answer. He wasn't there. In his last moments his father reached out to him and he _wasn't there—_

Peter choked on a sob, his phone forgotten in his white-knuckled hand. It didn't matter anymore. He didn't need to call anyone about his father because _Tony had called him_ and he didn't answer. The last phone call his father would make, and he wasn't there for him.

_Dad, I’m so sorry._

“Peter? God, Petey, hey, it's alright.”

Peter came back to his senses, and one of the people he considered calling was right next to him. Happy held a hand on each of Peter’s shoulders, gently prying him away from the lockers. He knelt next to Peter as he tried to keep his eyes focused on him.

Peter shook under his hands, trying to find the words. “Dad, he—the portal, he _fell_ , he’s—”

“Peter, he’s alive,” Happy stressed quickly. “Petey, your dad’s alive, he’s okay.”

“What?” Peter croaked, a painful surge of hope rising in him. “But, I saw him _fall_ , he wasn't _moving_ —”

“Someone caught him,” Happy replied, almost breathless himself. “They announced it just before I came in here, kiddo, he’s awake and talking.”

“He—really?”

“Really really,” Happy nodded, raising a hand to cup Peter’s face. “We can call Pepper to confirm it if you want, if anyone knows where he’ll be after all this, it’s her.”

Peter nodded idly, still processing what he’d been told. He looked at his phone again and contemplated calling his father himself to confirm it, but if JARVIS hadn't caught Tony in the first place, chances were the suit wasn't functioning. He’d rather not get his hopes crushed by his father not answering the call. _Just like I didn't answer..._

Peter shook his head of the thought, reminding himself that his father was alive and he would actually be able to apologize to him in person. _He’s alive—_

The words finally sunk in, and letting out a teary laugh of relief, Peter fell into Happy’s arms, laughing and crying along with the man, who was clearly just as relieved as he was.

Peter didn't notice Gwen Stacy at the end of the hallway, smiling softly at the display.

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly inspired by the scene at the end of Apollo 13, where everyone is waiting for the Command Module to come out of radio blackout and fall into the ocean, and basically waiting to find out if the three men inside of it are alive. The movie shows Jim Lovell's (the commander of the mission) son, Jay, at school watching the news coverage with his classmates, which is actually what happened during the actual event. The scene itself on the soundtrack is called "Re-entry and Splashdown", hence the title.
> 
> I was worried at first that Peter may be OOC, but I thought back to how he was when Uncle Ben and Gwen died, and I figured this was pretty accurate.
> 
> This fic is going to be a part of a much bigger series, it's just that each fic probably won't be chronological. If it's not abundantly made clear by the fic itself the time period it occurs in, I'll let you know.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Reveal](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4301931) by [CreativityFlow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativityFlow/pseuds/CreativityFlow)




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